Dante Pizzeria...Wow!

www.dantepizzeria.com

Tonight Katy and I decided to experience Dante Pizzeria, which is a spot in west Omaha that serves homemade Italian using local ingredients.

I was inspired to take us there by the restaurant writer for the Omaha paper, who raved over hand-made pastas and everything else they offer.

They source everything locally, including cheese which that same writer had a chance to help make recently plus specialty meats from another local restaurant that I guess does its own charcuterie.  

I decided ahead of time I wanted the Pappardelle
Bolognese, because the sauce looked amazing and I don't know that I've ever had pappardelle.

One word...wow.  The pasta had a chew to it I found very appealing with a slight taste of wheat (whether the pasta has wheat or not, I don't know, but that's what I tasted.

The bolognese sauce was incredible. You can see from the description above the pic that it has a few meats along with herbs and wine, and the depth of flavor was really something.





Katy tried the Tagliatelle, which somehow I did not get a picture of to share with you here, but you can see from the description above that it looks pretty good as well. She thought it was very good.  I think she was a little surprised the tagliatelle noodles were only slightly larger than fettuccine in size...perhaps both of us were.  But it was very good.

We also really wanted to try their pizza, because wood-fired ovens can do some amazing things and because a co-worker of mine had told me this was the best pizza he's ever had.

To keep it simple, we went with the Margherita Pizza so we could really taste the crust and homemade sauce.

Like the other entrees, it was very, very good.  The crust was light and airy, thin enough to fold if that's what you like, and the cheese, that cheese from Branched Oak Farms north of Lincoln, was fresh, smooth and mild.  

I would have to say the pizza was cooked to perfection. The meal could have ended there, of course (and yes, we did take pizza home), but then they brought a dessert menu, which isn't listed online nor is it in what they bring you initially.  The choices were unique and hand-made...we had to try them.

So that there to the left is their S'Mores dessert.  Sorry I don't have the full description of it, but this is what they have created.

It begins with a homemade graham cracker on the bottom. The cracker is four inches or so across and more than a quarter inch thick, but not quite half an inch.  It's airy, not dense.  

Next they add a layer of chocolate. I don't know where the chocolate comes from, but it was rich and silky without being overly sweet.

They top it with a homemade marshmallow.  I'd never had one of those before.  It was really something.  They cook the whole thing in a cast iron skillet in the wood oven. I can tell you that the charring on the marshmallow reminded me very much of bonfires as a kid. Wonderful.

Katy decided to get the Butterscotch Pudding.  This pudding is very rich.  It's homemade, of course, and they call it a butterscotch Italian pudding. 

It's topped with a layer of caramel, also homemade, that is smooth and silky just like the chocolate was, and incredibly rich.

Then they top that with homemade whipped cream topped with sea salt.  Wow.  I had a bite of this and as much as I love chocolate, this was better than my dessert. 

The mix of flavors was just so unique that it was one of those food moments where you are in awe of the person who came up with the idea to put those flavors together in the first place.

Will we go back?  Most definitely.  Will it be soon?  Well, unlikely given the cost, though I don't think overall it was out of line.  Absolutely a place we'd go for a special dinner or even just to have a unique night out.  Highly recommend this place.